Recently I had sent to me a parcel of 3 books about knitting that could not be more different if they tried. As a moderately competent knitter of mostly plain garments for children of my extended family, all of whom seem to have decided that they “don’t wear wool any more” much to my disappointment, I had not perused a knitting book for quite some time. Well I was in for quite a surprise. In the first place all three books had a lovely tactile feel, were beautifully produced and a pleasure to handle.

Knit Aid: A Learn It, Fix It, Finish It Guide for Knitters on the Go by Vickie Howell published by Sterling (May 6, 2008).

Not a single pattern or photo of a finished garment! What! Just under a hundred pages of incredibly useful information with excellent hand drawn illustrations of the myriad things a knitter needs to master when progressing from knitting squares and sewing them together, to being able to graduate to more ambitious work. A complete beginner would also find this book invaluable. The section on measurement is a work of art, as is the glossary of terms and abbreviations. I loved the fact that the book had glossy ring bound small pages, you can actually put it on a table and it stays open! An excellent index, what more can I say?

* Yes one more thing; after the apocalypse, this book will be a “must have” item.

Closely Knit: Handmade Gifts For The Ones You Love by Hannah Fettig published by North Light Books (March 5, 2008).

This much larger volume (142 big pages) is beautifully photographed and produced, very up market beautiful people and great ideas for gifts. The glamorous grandmother made me reach for my hairbrush and eye shadow (quite a good idea really!) It also made me realise that I only had one garment of my own that I had made and this was more than 10 years old. Because the author had chosen a number of fashion ideas for the hats and scarves for example, the book would possibly date in a few years time, however there were sufficient classics in there and the great cushions and blanket inspired me to get knitting again. I am off to get some yarn.

Things I Learned From Knitting (Whether I Wanted To or Not) by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee published by Storey Publishing, LLC (March 19, 2008)

The third book is a little treasure, there are no photos, patterns or drawings and no instructions or ideas for items to be knitted, 160 tiny pages that will easily fit in your purse. The author presents the book as 44 things you need to know. The stories cover such matters as patience, trust, denial, fortitude, enrichment, generosity, productivity and punishment. All of these themes are cleverly and sometimes poignantly presented as “lessons that knitting has taught me”. The philosophy and joy and relevance of being a knitter, the exquisite pleasure of yarn, handling it, choosing it, hoarding it (her “stash”) really rang a bell with me. The vital information about conducting ourselves at a yarn sale was most useful and very funny. The author looks much too young to be such a wise and witty writer, The book has a delightful honesty about human frailty and I have at least 3 people who would love this as a gift.

About the author: Dace lives in Tasmania, Australia, and loves to knit and sew for her grandchildren and many grand nieces and nephews.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 27th, 2008 at 12:39 pm and is filed under reviews+literature+media, whip-up. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will be moderated but will appear as soon as humanly possible.